Africa University Current News

Black History Month program features lecture on the work of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison

Two lectures round out the celebration of Black History Month in February. The first, by Dr. Maxine J. Sample, a Fullbright Scholar and Associate Professor of English at Virginia State University, will examine “The Artistic Vision of Toni Morrison: Creating Scholarly Communication in AmericanCulture”.Dr. Sample, a specialist in African American Literature and Post Colonial African and Caribbean Literature, holds a BA

from the College of New Jersey (Trenton State College). She earned her MA at Clark Atlanta University and her DPhil from Emory University. Dr. Sample’s lecture, organised in collaboration with the
United States Information Centre, begins at 10am on 27 February in the Main Lecture Theatre of the J. Lawrence Novelist Toni Morrison: Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993
McCleskey Faculty of Theology Building. On 28 February, Dr. William Patterson will give a public
lecture on the topic “The Economic Status of People of Colour in 20th Century America”.Dr. Patterson is
currently serving as a Foreign Service Officer with USAID. He’s working on humanitarian assistance with USAID/ Zimbabwe. Prior to coming to Zimbabwe (2001-2004), Dr. Patterson was an Environmental Officer with USAID/El Salvador. He’s also been an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Clemson University in South Carolina (1994-2000), and a contractor working on irrigation and water management projects for USAID in Senegal (1988-1993). Dr. Patterson’s lecture begins at 10am in the Main Lecture Theatre of the J. Lawrence McCleskey Faculty of Theology Building. A number of additional Black History Month celebration activities, including screenings and discussions, are scheduled for March. Please check the noticeboards aroundcampus for more information.